The following letter-form was brought about as a means of teaching my children the Word of God through the mail. And of course, quite naturally so, that’s the reason I begin these letters with "Dear Children" and end them with "Love Dad". So for the rest of you who participate in these weekly messages, please keep their original intended purpose in mind.

15 May, 2011

Dear Children,

I had no sooner finished up last week’s sermonet – “Gabriel Swaggart And His Unholy Worship Team! ” – than the Lord instructed me to write this one for today: “Why Was Allison Collins-Rhys At Jimmy Swaggart Ministries?” And the only reason I’m able to write what I’m about to write is because Allison’s husband, Kelly, has come forth with his “true confession” of what actually took place at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries while they were “performing” there.

You see this long-running fiasco with “Jimmy Swaggart And His Unholy Worship Team!” is finally drawing to a close! God is exposing their “nakedness” in an undeniable sort of way for the whole wide world to see. And with that in mind, let us proceed with the message for today: part VI of “Music And The Devil!” – “Why Was Allison Collins-Rhys At Jimmy Swaggart Ministries?”

Now to start things off, here’s a sample from Kerry Rhys’ blog – “For Those Who Have Written And Asked Why?”:

“It was April 2003 and Swaggart just had the big church split after Donnie's divorce. Some were fired, both ministry staff and music departemnt staff, for staying in contact with Debbie Swaggart who they admired which culminated in Swaggart's long time music director, Rita King resigning… The music department was suddenly in dire need of female soloists. Two FWC band members knew Allison, one had been playing with her the past 6 years while moonlighting outside the ministry. The other, a friend of ours who also played out on off nights told Swaggart she was a popular singer in the region and felt she would be a good choice. In two days time Swaggart contacted and hired Allison after a single very persuasive meeting which he told her God was opening the door for her and offered her a chance to have a "secure future for her family" there. That she could quit her work and "walk through that door or turn her back on God and walk away". If she would quit her job he would gaurantee her a good salary and "bless her" as time went on. The salary he offered was about half of what we were making but she was convinced by Swaggart's hard sell. Seeing that it was a losing battle for me to resist, I agreed to shut our work down… Allison and I ended up at odds with each other, she started singing on the platform there the very next night… So Swaggart hired her straight from a career as a pop singer, singing in clubs just 4 days previous and had her singing on the alter the same week.”

Talk about a bomb of a confession! But that’s only the beginning! I mean if what Tareva Henderson had to say about JSM wasn’t enough already; just wait till you read the rest of what Kerry Rhys had to say!

But before we go any further with Kerry’s confession, let’s go back to our 4/21/02 sermonet – “Jimmy Swaggart And His Spiritual Adultery!” – for a quick review. Because in order to make the most of this “insider information”, we must incorporate it with what the Lord’s already given us on Jimmy Swaggart, the music, and the Devil:

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"Until the image of Christ inside of you is expressed externally. He has to have total control in your life. - If you have talent, He can refine that talent until Christ begins to flow through. I’m talking about singers...but they’re hard to find where Jesus is preeminent. "Self will" gets in the way. Christ becomes smaller and smaller. - You Galatians, you have drifted so far away until Christ is in you but there is no expression externally."

OK, so what Brother Swaggart has just described in his closing comments is exactly what happens to Believers who commit "Spiritual Adultery". In other words the Believer has started out on their "walk in the Spirit", but when they get somewhere around steps three (3) or four (4) they kinda like "just say no to Jesus!" It’s what Brother Swaggart was talking about "having the Spirit but not the fullness". And you see the main reasons why Believers abort their "baptism process", before they ever make it to step seven (7), is either due to the fear of having to suffer for Christ or a belief that they don’t have to suffer in the first place. Whatever the reason, God’s "Seven Step Process" never gets completed and the unbaptized Believer becomes a Pharisee at best - "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."

And having said all that we can get to Brother Swaggart’s comments about singers. Because you see when it comes to "praising and worshipping" God Almighty through singing, the singers must be Believers who are completing and have completed God’s Seven Step Process. I mean what could be worse than a Pharisee singing the praises of God?

Now that’s a good question! And as much as Brother Swaggart preached against it sixteen (16) years ago, it just so happens that this exact same thing is actually happening within the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries right now... and it’s even happening with Brother Swaggart’s approval! So based on what Brother Swaggart said about "self-willed" singers back in 1986, why do you figure he’s got one of them as his lead singer in 2002?

Well the answer to that question is found in Brother Swaggart’s error of the Cross. He’s believing in a doctrine that shortens God’s Seven Step Salvation Plan down to a quick and easy one step operation. Brother Swaggart is committing "Spiritual Adultery" himself and the fruits of his labor are starting to show up in his ministry (see Jimmy Swaggart And the Accursed! (12/30/01)).

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Now there’s lots that could be said about Jimmy Swaggart’s “error on the cross”, but suffice it to say that Jimmy Swaggart now believes one must only “look to the cross of Christ” – instead of “taking up their cross and following Jesus” – in order to be transformed into the image of Christ. And as the testimonies of Tareva and Kerry are starting to reveal, Jimmy Swaggart is anything but Christ-like in the way he conducts the ministry that God has entrusted to him. (See “Jimmy Swaggart REJECTS The Cross Of Christ! ” and “Jimmy Swaggart Expositor’s Study Bible: THE LIE From SATAN! ” for more on the subject.)

And with that in mind, let’s get back to our discussion of “Jimmy Swaggart And His Spiritual Adultery! ” and the “self-willed singer” that Jimmy Swaggart kept on his “praise and worship team” as a result of his own “self-will”. Because you see the only singer that the Lord had me to address in that particular sermonet of 4/21/02 was none other than Tabitha Pimlott. And even though she was called of God to sing at the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, the time had long since passed when she should have departed. In other words, God said, “Go!” but yet “Tabitha and Jimmy” decided she would stay. And of course that’s where the “self-willed” singer and the “self-willed” Jimmy Swaggart created the real-life story of his “spiritual adultery”.

Tabitha Pimlott At JSM - Let Christ Be Glorified

[The above YouTube video has been pulled from viewing due to a copyright claim by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. However, you can watch as a Windows Media Video or listen to the MP3 audio below.]- Posted for illustrative/instructive purposes only. -

But there’s actually more to this “self-willed” story of “Jimmy Swaggart And His Spiritual Adultery” than this incident with Tabitha. Because a year and a-half earlier Jimmy Swaggart terminated/fired the “praise and worship” leader that God had Personally put in place… and he did it through his own “self-will”.

You see it was on the 23rd of March 1997, during the morning service at Family Worship Center, that Jimmy Swaggart made the following introduction for Marvin Clark: “We’ve been praying for the last year about something in the realm of a worship leader… And the Lord a few days ago sent in Marvin. If the Lord wants him here, that’s what we want.”

Marvin Clark At JSM (3/23/97)- True Praise And Worship -

[The above YouTube video has been pulled from viewing due to a copyright claim by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. However, you can watch as a Windows Media Video or listen to the MP3 audio below.]- Posted for illustrative/instructive purposes only. -

However, it was on the 15th of October 2000 – three (3) years, six (6) months, and twenty-two (22) days from the day that Jimmy Swaggart made his commitment to God concerning Marvin Clark’s position with the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries – that Jimmy Swaggart decided to override God in one of the most important aspects of the Jimmy Swaggart Ministry: “praise and worship”! And as the Lord God would have it, it was for that very same reason that Family Worship Center was “trying something out for television” which required the lights to be turned out in the sanctuary during the last service that Brother Marvin would be allowed to honor God through his “praise and worship”. In other words, IT WAS DARK! Not only physically, but more importantly spiritually. Jimmy Swaggart was only hours away from trashing JSM’s music ministry, and God Almighty was not at all pleased. In fact God was wroth!!!

Marvin Clark At JSM (10/15/00)- True Praise And Worship -

[The above YouTube video has been pulled from viewing due to a copyright claim by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. However, you can watch as a Windows Media Video or listen to the MP3 audio below.]- Posted for illustrative/instructive purposes only. -

Well, that was “in the beginning” of Jimmy Swaggart’s “music ministry” problems, and it all came about as Jimmy Swaggart committed “spiritual adultery” through his very own “self-willed decisions” that he so adamantly preached against in years past:

“"Self will" gets in the way. Christ becomes smaller and smaller.”

So the question is: “just how small has Christ actually become in Jimmy Swaggart?” Would you have ever believed he would stoop so low as to hire a secular musician and claim it was “the Will of God” when in all actuality it wasn’t?

“ In two days time Swaggart contacted and hired Allison after a single very persuasive meeting which he told her God was opening the door for her and offered her a chance to have a "secure future for her family" there…. So Swaggart hired her straight from a career as a pop singer, singing in clubs just 4 days previous and had her singing on the alter the same week.”

Jimmy Swaggart was desperate to pull up his ratings in order to bring in the cash… and he was even willing to lie about God in order to make it all happen! But what’s new? I mean Jimmy Swaggart has been exemplifying this type of behavior for quite some time. In fact an investigative reporter, John Camp, spent many hours interviewing the folks at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries in order to prepare for his “60 Minutes” special that aired on February the 13th 1984. And the following two quotes from that documentary – “Give Me That Big Time Religion” – will adequately describe what Jimmy Swaggart is all about (see “Jimmy Swaggart: Fire And Brimstone” for film clips):

“I think the biggest thing that I learned, in traveling with Jimmy and looking at his ministry, that money had replaced the message as the motivation of the ministry… Of all of the people I’ve ever encountered, I’ve never seen anyone who is able to lie as effectively as Jimmy Swaggart does. If there’s such a thing as a pathological liar, I think that he would qualify.” – John Camp

John Camp spoke God’s Truth about Jimmy Swaggart back in 1984… but yet Jimmy Swaggart has continued in his “self-willed” ways while destroying the lives of those who believe in his lies. And Allison Collins-Rhys just so happened to be one of them:

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:1-7 KJV)

So with that Scripture in mind, did you see God’s Truth concerning “Jimmy and Allison”? Well let me help you out. You see it’s only because of Jimmy Swaggart’s “self-willed” behavior that the Christ in him has vacated the premises. Jimmy Swaggart still has a form of godliness, but yet the power of the Holy Spirit is no longer in him. And it’s this same “lying religious spirit” in Jimmy Swaggart that took captive a “silly woman” by the name of Allison:

“…she was convinced by Swaggart's hard sell. Seeing that it was a losing battle for me to resist,… Allison and I ended up at odds with each other…”

Allison Collins-Rhys was mesmerized and hypnotized by Jimmy Swaggart’s “lying religious spirit”, but yet her husband wasn’t. And of course that’s just one of the reasons Allison is a “silly woman” – she claims Christ but yet doesn’t walk in obedience to God’s Word for the married couple:

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” (Ephesians 5:22-24 KJV)

Now that was reason #1 from Brother Paul as to why Allison is a “silly woman”. And just in case that one’s not sufficient, here’s Brother Peter with reason #2:

“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” (1 Peter 3:1-6 KJV)

So there you have it: a “silly woman” – proof positive! Allison did not heed the advice of her husband concerning the job offered by Jimmy Swaggart; she was not in subjection to her husband, and she most certainly didn’t call him lord. And furthermore, as the Scriptures point out, the other tale-tale sign illuminating the wife’s insubordination to her husband can be seen in her dress (or lack of it).

“It will rarely be found that women who are fond of dress, and extravagant in it, have any subjection to their husbands but what comes from mere necessity. Indeed, their dress, which they intend as an attractive to the eyes of others, is a sufficient proof that they have neither love nor respect for their own husbands. Let them who are concerned refute the charge.” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible)

And with that in mind, let’s continue in our pursuit to answer the question: “Why Was Allison Collins-Rhys At The Jimmy Swaggart Ministry?” And of course we’re gonna do it with a little help from Kerry:

“The fact that Swaggart took a liking to her and at rehearsals would immediately start playing with her, joking, throwing her shoes, both teasing each other, didn't help things. Allison would call him "old man" which he seemed to enjoy but I was told no one spoke to him that way. One of the older veterans there told me they saw Allison as "Jimmy's flavor of the month" or "teachers pet" and no one had joked with him before to that extent. I was told the older employees were not amused with it and felt she was disrespectful.”

So are you starting to get a better picture of the “Reverend” Jimmy Swaggart?

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16 KJV)

The title “Reverend” carries the implication of “holiness”… as in Christ-like! But yet Jimmy Swaggart “plays” with Allison in a most unholy manner: “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts”.

But that ain’t even all! I mean what do you say we get a little clarity with this thing about Jimmy Swaggart the “pathological liar” who promised a “secure future” for Allison and her family? I mean, after all, this is what Kerry had to say about it:

“One day a surprise meeting for the entire music department was called, mandatory attendence for all employees. As we (about 25 employees) sat waiting to see what it was about, Frances Swaggart walked in and proceeded to interrogate us about things that someone told her were being said. Allison was not mentioned duing this time. At the end, Robin stood up and said pretty unexpectedly "Allison you've made some very bad decisions"… A week after the group meeting with Frances and Robin's cryptic statement, Allison got a phone call and was read a memo over the phone by Nikki Tracy that she had been terminated from JSM. I was fired by association with no explanation. Allison was five months pregnant at this time, we had no idea what we would do for money. She was as devastated as I can imagine anyone could be.”

Amazing! Wouldn’t you agree? But that was only the first time they fired her… the second time was for keeps! But why should it be a surprise? I mean, even Roger Eddinger will tell you that’s “standard operating procedures” for JSM. Well, maybe not you or me, but at least he told Kerry:

“The summary is that Allison gave her heart to that ministry, anyone there will tell you that. Roger Eddinger, Swaggart's right hand man and producer for some 40 years told me this one evening before the taping of the service. I was sitting with Roger in the control studio before the music was to start he turned to me and said:"It's a shame your wife is so dedicated to this ministry". A little surprised I replied, "why do you say that?". Roger replied, "she's going to get hurt badly when she finally finds out what kind of people she is working for".... it'll eventually happen, always does"....”

Roger Eddinger spoke God’s Truth about “Jimmy Swaggart and family”. Can you even imagine the stories he could tell?

Repent, Jimmy Swaggart, repent!

So why was Allison at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries? The same reason that Bob Henderson, Tareva Henderson, and Randy Knapps (just to mention a few) were there: to bring in the customers! I mean, after all, the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries is no longer a “house of God” but a “place of entertainment”… and Jimmy Swaggart needs lots of paying customers! And the following “hot scoop” from Kerry bears it out:

“The first few years we were there Bob Henderson was playing at the bar at Sullivan's earning extra money for years with the Swaggart's full knowledge and approval. Tareva was singing every other week in casinos in Mississippi while she was singing there. The Swaggarts were well informed of this but looked the other way as Terava was very valuable to their music sales. Just a few weeks before Allison was fired, Randy Knapps sang with us at a bar while drinking straight scotch the entire night. Drove home drunk as can be, told me himself Sunday morning before he sang that he barely made it home. Allison sat in with us one night and sang two songs then left. Someone there reported it, and the next morning Allison was the only one Robin Herd fired for playing "secular" music... The others remained on staff. From my point of view I see no integrity whatsoever in Jimmy Swaggart or that music department whatsoever but that's another story altogether.”

So just how many of Jimmy Swaggart’s loyal followers (Swaggart-ites) do you think will heed the warning of our message for today? I’m afraid there won’t be too awful many:

"Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not... I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." (Jeremiah 5:21 and Galatians 1:6-7 KJV)

What more can I say but “Jimmy Swaggart; O ye hypocrite!”

Do not put your trust in man! “Keep on keeping the faith in Jesus!!!”

(Kerry Rhys’ blog –“For Those Who Have Written And Asked Why?” – can be read in it’s entirety below.)

Love,

Dad (Bruce Hallman)

“ALL FOR THE LOVE OF JESUS”

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For Those Who Have Written And Asked Why?[http://forthosewhohavewrittenandaskwhy.blogspot.com/]

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Allison Collins Rhys was the first singer brought into FWC by Jimmy directly from "the bars" as they say it there. Since 1995 and graduating LSU Allison had been a career professional singer who had been taken in and finacially backed by artist development programs of both MCA and Atlantic records. I have been a career professional musician for my entire working life. By this time in 2003 we had already worked together as a team in studio work and live performance for eight years. We were in our third year of marraige and starting our family, I was doing studio work, Allison wrote, sang, and and we played acoustic music together on weekends. We were doing well, debt free with our house already paid for, cars all paid for, no credit card debt whatsover. We attended church at Bethany in Baton Rouge. Music, and all commercial aspects from studio to live performance was our job and full time career. We had invested all of our extra income into a professional level studio and I was taking on good paying accounts. Allison did not like playing the bars, she actually despised the people there and their habits but it was an integral part of our work and income. She was never, ever, a part of the social night life or clubs. Allison to this day has never done a drug, smoked cigarettes, or consumed alcohol.

It was April 2003 and Swaggart just had the big church split after Donnie's divorce. Some were fired, both ministry staff and music departemnt staff, for staying in contact with Debbie Swaggart who they admired which culminated in Swaggart's long time music director, Rita King resigning. A "church split" ensued with quite a few of the congregation and staff leaving....Rita King and her husband starting a church with part of the congregation, another pastor who was fired for communication with Debbie Swaggart starting another church with other members that left in the fray. The music department was suddenly in dire need of female soloists. Two FWC band members knew Allison, one had been playing with her the past 6 years while moonlighting outside the ministry. The other, a friend of ours who also played out on off nights told Swaggart she was a popular singer in the region and felt she would be a good choice. In two days time Swaggart contacted and hired Allison after a single very persuasive meeting which he told her God was opening the door for her and offered her a chance to have a "secure future for her family" there. That she could quit her work and "walk through that door or turn her back on God and walk away". If she would quit her job he would gaurantee her a good salary and "bless her" as time went on. The salary he offered was about half of what we were making but she was convinced by Swaggart's hard sell. Seeing that it was a losing battle for me to resist, I agreed to shut our work down but was concerned about the timing being so fast. It was just a matter of two days notice to shut down our work and we had many contractual commitments.... that I would like to have the chance to talk this plan over and work out and make provisions for commitments at hand. Allison and I ended up at odds with each other, she started singing on the platform there the very next night, I stayed behind to try and wind down the now dead business by selling off equipment and trying to hire musicians to honor contractual dates over the next few weeks.

So Swaggart hired her straight from a career as a pop singer, singing in clubs just 4 days previous and had her singing on the alter the same week. In Roy Chacon's words "there are many of the old employees that have their claws planted firmly in their territory". Right off the bat Allison didn't fit in well with some the long time church folks working there. She is a free-spirited and speaks her mind, honest to a fault. She had never been around "church people" and did not understand "church protocol". Her candid personality rubbed a lot of the old church employees the wrong way. Robin Herd who was appointed new band director told Allison himself he didn't want her there. Not too much later the other guitar player was fired for having contact with Rita King and I was hired to take his place.

The next year was rocky with constant problems with Robin Herd. Tareva Henderson, Holly Rector, Charmaine Bridgeman, Donna Carline, and Martha Bourg were all subsequently hired as new female soloists and all (except Tareva) were church veterans leaving Allison the low singer on the roster and rarely used at all. The fact that Swaggart took a liking to her and at rehearsals would immediately start playing with her, joking, throwing her shoes, both teasing each other, didn't help things. Allison would call him "old man" which he seemed to enjoy but I was told no one spoke to him that way. One of the older veterans there told me they saw Allison as "Jimmy's flavor of the month" or "teachers pet" and no one had joked with him before to that extent. I was told the older employees were not amused with it and felt she was disrespectful. One day a surprise meeting for the entire music department was called, mandatory attendence for all employees. As we (about 25 employees) sat waiting to see what it was about, Frances Swaggart walked in and proceeded to interrogate us about things that someone told her were being said. Allison was not mentioned duing this time. At the end, Robin stood up and said pretty unexpectedly "Allison you've made some very bad decisions". A little confused as Allison and I had no clue to what was going on, Robin said "a married couple here has been coming to me on a regular basis telling me you are saying things about the ministry." "It's happening often and I think where there is smoke there is fire". We wouldn't find out what he was talking about until two years later.

A week after the group meeting with Frances and Robin's cryptic statement, Allison got a phone call and was read a memo over the phone by Nikki Tracy that she had been terminated from JSM. I was fired by association with no explanation. Allison was five months pregnant at this time, we had no idea what we would do for money. She was as devastated as I can imagine anyone could be. The following week Frances met with Allison and her mother and told them she wasn't really fired, it was just a misunderstanding, "she had done nothing wrong" (quote) and that it would be worked out. Allison continued to show up at services but was placed on suspension with no pay. This "misunderstanding" ended up lasting seven months, each week she was assured things are be worked out, she would soon be hired back. It took me the first three months to begin to get enough work just to play catch up overdue mortgage, cars, insurances and the expenses of our children that were piling up. During this time we lost our health insurance lived off of credit cards, mortgaged our house, then sold our house quickly to buy another cheaper home and use left over cash to pay back debts that were piling up. I took work playing music while Allison had our third child. Due to knee injuries, problems related to a total knee replacement surgery I had the previous year and other issues we ended up running up over $20,000 in medical expenses without health insurance. Several thousand more in credit card debt we had to use as a stop-gap measure while trying to find income. It took me three months to begin to get enough just to play catch up overdue mortgage, cars, insurances and the expenses of our children that were piling up. Allison was 5 months pregnant when she was fired, gave birth to our third child our baby and could not work. I ended up selling all of our remaining studio equipment to help cover debts.

So back to the re-hiring that took place after months of debt.... At this time Swaggart insisted she meet with Robin, that she would only be hired back if Robin approved. She met with Robin, he told her he did not want her back but she managed to grovel, cry, and beg enough to get her job back. Upon returning to work she was told that the salary which she was initially offered would no longer be paid. At this point she was paid less than half of what many others were paid. A huge cut in salary. I was hired back full time a few months later, also for half of my former salary. Our take home pay was now below the poverty level for just one individual, much less two adults supporting three children. You cannot be a musician at Swaggart's with an outside day job. You are hired as a "full time" employee. We had one musician who was a paramedic and attempted to work both jobs but ended up missing a couple of daytime rehearsals due to unexpected schedule changes. He was given an ultimatum of choosing between the two. When he said that he wasn't willing to leave his regular job as a paramedic he was terminated. You have to be available at all times for any scheduling of daytime band meetings or rehearsals.

We continued to fall deep into debt not beeing able to make insurances and mortgage. Allison held on and refused to seek outside "secular" work. She felt this was test and God would restore everything. Swaggart had "promised her security for her family". Almost a year passed, we saw our foreclosed house in the newspaper going to sherrif's sale, we had run up every card we had trying to keep our heads above water with the very little income we wrer reduced to, now we were losing all the equity the two of us had earned over the last 12 years. Our phone rang no less than 20 times a day with various collections calls. I had taken outside work "moonlighting" trying to make extra money in a band with Bob Henderson (who also needed extra money for medical bills), Jeremy Downey. Both Bob and Jeremy were musicians and featured singers at that time for the ministry. We had been playing weekly at a local restuarant/bar for a couple of months. Little did we know, in these next three days our lives would be turned around:

The final notice for legal forclosure of our family home arrived. Partly due to the recession and the enormous amount of foreclosers happening the bank made us a last offer just 10 days before our house would be sold at sheriff's sale. If within the next 10 days we could make payment of two months of the outstanding balance plus cover legal fees incurred for the foreclosure work they would halt the process and put us on a repayment schedule to catch up on what was now 6 months behind. A great offer to settle our dilema but we had nothing even near that amount of money. I asked Allison if she would like to try and sing with me, Bob, and Jeremy the next night to try and make extra money. We were beyond desperate and trying to sell anything, scrape anything we could in those 10 days we had left before the house was lost. Every $100 was huge at this point. Very hesitant, Allison came with me and sang the first two songs only, then went home. One of the same people from the ministry who had been coming to see us for the past weeks went straight to Frances and told that Allison sang. Before I woke up the next morning Allison had received a call that she was terminated from the ministry. Bob and Jeremy were also said to have been fired by Robin. When I woke up Jeremy was already over at our house. While sitting on our couch Robin called Jeremy and I listened on the speaker phone when Robin told Jeremy that he and Bob would not be fired....only Allison. Sensing the double-mindedness of letting Allison go after sitting in for two songs yet they had done it for months Jeremy went back to work singing at FWC but continued to play with us for the next few months before resigning after getting questioned about it. His salary at that time was over double the combined salary Allison and I had been reduced to and can't blame him for working as long as he could. I also don't blame Bob for staying at the ministry, he's the highest paid musician there and Swaggart knows he could not function without him.

So... here we are now with 7 days before we are homeless, just fired from our jobs, and God moved. Miraculously, people at FWC who heard the story and how Allison was singled out and fired pledged their FWC tithes to paying our bills. We were able to keep the house although we are still playing catch under repayment plans we are back to more than original salaries we were promised by Swaggart. We received no less than 100 emails from FWC people very disappointed in us that Allison to "quit the ministry", "rejected the Gospel", "backslid" and "return to the world" to quote just a few. It's a shame that FWC won't at least say that she was fired. We've had people tell us they have approached Frances to ask what heppened to Allsion and her answer was "Allison decided she wanted to go do her own thing". The truth is she was fired after being set up by people in the church, suspended for seven months without pay, then hired back for a fraction of her original salary. Then fired after she sang two songs with other church musicians that were kept on at the ministry.

Roy Chacon was a good friend to us and kept in touch. The week this happened Roy heard and called asked us what had gone on, then said he would look into it. He called us back several days later and his advice was to stay away from FWC, don't look back, that we had no friends there in the music department. To this day we still have other veteran ministers on staff at FWC that still visit us here at homeThey understand what happened and encourage her that God has her where He wants her.

As a post note... recently a fellow came to us, apologized and asked for forgiveness. He said he and his wife were the ones going to Robin Herd with the stories that got Allison fired the first go 'round. His wife had convinced him to go to with her on multiple occasions and tell Robin that Allison was bad mouthing Robin, Swaggart, and the ministry. They kept the stories up until she was fired. His wife left him shortly afterward Allison was fired. Allison had befriended the woman, the woman had confided she was in an affair. It turns out she must have regretted confiding and wanted Allison gone before she left her husband. This fellow said his wife had taken all their money and the their house, something that his wife may have been endangered if Allison were to speak of the affair. She needed Allison away from the ministry before she left him.

The summary is that Allison gave her heart to that ministry, anyone there will tell you that. Roger Eddinger, Swaggart's right hand man and producer for some 40 years told me this one evening before the taping of the service. I was sitting with Roger in the control studio before the music was to start he turned to me and said:"It's a shame your wife is so dedicated to this ministry". A little surprised I replied, "why do you say that?". Roger replied, "she's going to get hurt badly when she finally finds out what kind of people she is working for".... it'll eventually happen, always does"....

And it did...she was set up by church people and fired, we were both suspended without pay for seven months and fell deep into debt. We began work in 2003 at JSM debt free with all living necessities paid for and 5 1/2 years later we were broke with house in foreclosure. Yes, she thought there was good a possiblity of getting fired again if she sang that night for extra money but we were both desparate for money to stop the foreclosure. swaggart did say that no one was allowed to sing secular music but many did and continued with swaggart's knowledge with no repercussions. Bob, Jeremy, and I had been playing at this restuarant/bar for a while. It was known by quite a few there and didn't seem to be a problem. The first few years we were there Bob Henderson was playing at the bar at Sullivan's earning extra money for years with the Swaggart's full knowledge and approval. Tareva was singing every other week in casinos in Mississippi while she was singing there. The Swaggarts were well informed of this but looked the other way as Terava was very valuable to their music sales. Just a few weeks before Allison was fired, Randy Knapps sang with us at a bar while drinking straight scotch the entire night. Drove home drunk as can be, told me himself Sunday morning before he sang that he barely made it home. Allison sat in with us one night and sang two songs then left. Someone there reported it, and the next morning Allison was the only one Robin Herd fired for playing "secular" music... The others remained on staff. From my point of view I see no integrity whatsoever in Jimmy Swaggart or that music department whatsoever but that's another story altogether.

It's been a tough 3 years since, we've taken on even more debt to get business capital, done some consolidating and refinancing to start working towards where we were before going under. We are finally starting to be able to repay what we owe and the tens of thousands of dollars of debt brought on by our association with JSM. Again, when we began working there we were totally debt free. Allison calls those years at JSM the most miserable, chaotic, confusing, years of her life. It's been interesting how many from FWC send support and love and are happy that we are doing well how many send their disgust and condemnation. Sad to say it's been more of the latter. The most valuable lesson we learned there came from one we both admired as having something that we would want for ourselves and our family. Actually two people come to mind in the years we were there that lived the example. Curtis Bridgeman and Sean Durham were two men that I never heard say a negative word about anyone and treated everyone with equal respect. Before Sean finished his doctorate degree and left FWC after a couple of decades there I asked him what was that made him so different. He gave me a book that helped give him courage and inspired him to move on with his life to be what God had intended. I'm going to post a link to an outline of the book. It was a great help to us as well and gives great understanding into situations like what we experienced. I hope some of you who work there will be inspired to do the same.